Railway car retarder



May 17, 1932- i H. c. cLAuss-:N 1,859,073

' RAILWAY CAR RETARDER Filed Aprila, 195o Fig 2.

INVENTOR Reducfz'on: Gearing g M Patented May 17, 1932 STATES PATENT este HAR-OLD C. CLAUSEN, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION I SWITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA RAILWAY can RETARDER 'Application ined April s,

My invention relates to railway car retarders, and particularly Ato car retarders of the type comprising electromagnetic means located in the trackway and arranged for cooperation with the wheels or other parts of cars for reducing the speed of cars.

I will describe one form of car retarder embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig..V 1 is a vertical sectional view, partly diagrammatic showing one form of car retarder embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing one arrangement lfor connecting the movable track rail section A associated with the car retarder Aillustrated in Fig. 1 with the fixed track rail section A2 on either side of the retarder. Y

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in both views. Y i n Referring to the drawings, the reference character designates a section `of one of the running rails of a stretch (if-railway track upon which is shown a car wheel B in Fig. 1. The section A is mounted on a plurality of resilient supports, each designated by the reference character C, and is connected with the fixed rail sections A2 on either Aside of the i rail section A by means of movable intermedi- The resilient supports C may have any suit-` able form. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, each support C comprises a cylindrical member 1 to whichothe rail section A is secured, and which is arranged to slide vertically in a cylindrical member 2 against the bias of a compression spring 8. The cylindrical members 2 are each fastened by means of bolts 4 to a suitable support, such for exam-` ple, as the usual cross ties.

1930. Serial No. 442,525.

Located on opposite sides of the track rail section A are two braking bars'D and E each comprising a brake beam 6 of magnetizable material and a replaceable friction brake shoe 7 also of magnetizable material. The braking bars D and E are mounted for sliding motion toward or away from the rail section A Y upon the pole pieces 12 of a suitable electromagnet by means of which the braking bars may at times be magnetized. As here shown, this electromagnet comprises' a U-shaped yoke or core 13 of magnetizable material extending transversely beneaththe rail sectionA, and connecting the pole pieces 12. The legs 13a of the core 13V are each provided with af winding 14, which windings are connected in series, and are arranged to be supplied with current from a suitable source such as a battery II, over a manually operable switch 15.'

G and, in a similar manner, the braking bar D is operatively connected with a channel Fa by means including a spring Ga.

wheel B. `Stops 11 are provided to'limit the` motion of the channels towards the rail section A. In actual practice, the channels F and Fa will usually be operated by a single motor.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: When it is desired to retard aV car, the braking bars are iirst moved to rtheir braking The chano nels F and F2, in turn, are operated bypin-V ions 9 and 9a which are driven by motors positions in which 'they are illustrated in the drawings by energizing the motors M in the proper directions, and switch 15 is then closed. When switch l5 is closed, current is supplied to the windings 14, and the braking bars D and E become magnetized so that fiux lines now thread the wheel B. As a result, a magnetic attraction is exerted between the braking bars D and E and the wheel B which'acts, in Yaddition to the springs G and G, to urge the braking bars into frictional the wheelv depends upon the number of flux lines which thread the wheel, which, in turn, depends upon the area of the wheel faces betweenthe brake shoes 7, and hence, upon the vertical position of the wheel with respect to thev braking bars D and E. Since the rail A is mounted on resilient supports in the manner previously described, it will be apparent that the vertical position of the wheel with respect to the braking bars D and E varies in accordance with the weight of the car, and it follows that the retarding force exerted on the wheel B by the braking bars due Vto friction, therefore varies with the weight of the car, this force increasing as the weight of the car increases, and decreasing as the weight of the car decreases. Further more, the amount of the eddy currents generated in the wheel depends upon the speed of the car, and also upon the amount of the flux lines which thread the wheel, so that the retarding force due to the eddy currents generated in the wheely increases both with ithe weight of the car and with the speed of the car. It follows that with a car retarder embodying my invention, cars having different weights and different entering speeds are retarded by different forces, so that by properly p-roportioning the parts, the retarder may be constructed in such manner that all cars will leave the retarder at approximately the same speed.

It'should be particularly pointed out that while in illustrating my invention, I have shown and described only one electromagnet associated with the braking bars D and E, these braking bars may be made of considerable length and may be magnetized by a number of electromagnets as conditions may require.

, Although I have herein shown and described only one form of railway car retarder embodyingk myfinvention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1v. In a car retarder of the electromagnetic type comprising two brake shoes of magnetizable material extending parallel to a track rail onV opposite sides Vof the track rail and movable into engagement with the wheel of a car for retarding the motion of the car,and magnetic means for moving said shoes into engagement with saidwheel, the combination, with'the aforementioned instrumentalities of resilient means for supporting the track rail whereby the vertical position of said rail' varies with the weight of the car and varies the position at'which said shoe enn gages said wheel and the frictionalr force between said shoes and said wheel 2. A car retarder of the electromagnetic type comprising fixed meansV for creating a magnetic field adjacent a track rail in such manner thatthewheels of a car traversingsald rail will pass through said field, and resilient means forl supporting said track rail in such manner that the vertical position of said rail with respect to said field will vary in accordance with'the weight of the car and vary the position of the car wheel with respect to'said field when said wheel is passing through said field. Y

3. In combination, a firstsection of abrunning rail of a stretch of railway vtrack supported by resilient supports in such manner that the vertical position of said section varies in accordance with the weight of a car traversing said section, two movable ap proach sections one located between each end of said first section and the adjacent fixed end of said running rail and each mountedon resilientsupports in such manner that the vertical position of one end of each said approach section will vary in accordance with the weight of a car on said approach sections, splice bars for connecting said. approach sections with said first section and the adjacent fixed endsof the runningrail in such manner that lateral movement of said first section and said approach sections is prevented, two brake shoes of magnetizable material one located on each side of said first section and each movable into engagement with the wheel of a car traversing said section, and means for creating a magnetic field ybetween said shoes and said wheel for moving said shoes into engagement with said wheel to retard the motion of said car. y y

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HAROLD C. CLAUSEN. 

